a quiet corner on the info superhighway for the rantings and ruminations of a geezer bemused by modern society. political correctness is left at the curb.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.
Robert A. Heinlein "

Monday, November 08, 2004

cool. i got hate mail

while wandering around the blogosphere tonite, i commented on an entry made by an obviously despondent democrat. he made the comment that at least he had a canadian and an irish passport, and could leave the country.
my response was basically that if it was that bad, perhaps he should. unfortunately, this was just a surf in blog, and i don't have the exact phrase i used, nor do i have the gent's blog name. his response was (intellegently made) to email me rather than simply posting a response on his blog. guess he figured i probably wouldn't be back to read his incisive and scathing response. i did email him back with a semi-civilized response, and then asked for his blog addy so i could post it here. i also have the "save sent messages" turned off in yahoo mail, so i can't reproduce my response, but it was civil, as i'm sure you all know it would be. so anyway, thanks to mr. ed at removed by request for the following response to my post on his blog:

Typical response from a typical ignorant idiot.

Why don't I leave? Because this is the US and I have the right to my
opinion as you do yours. If you believe that any dissent is
un-American, I
would suggest that you, sir, are the antithesis of what it is to be an
American. It is what our country was founded upon. If you want opinions
to
be uniform, perhaps it is you who should leave. Try Saudi Arabia you
jackass!

cool.
i also got a love note, but i'm waiting on permission from the poster before i put it on the web. hate mail.... i share with no reservations.

edit: received a nice reply requesting additional info, and here it is in it's entirety

I don't mind you using my comments, however it does go against the typical grain of conduct to use someone's email address on a blog without their
permission. I would humbly request you to remove it.

You seem like a rather intelligent individual, yet it also seems that you gather your sources from viewpoints that mirror yours. Therein lies the problem. I enjoy reading your blog, simply because I don't agree with it. Unlike many of my liberal compatriots I was not unaware what the heartland of America thinks or believes for I live in it. I was brought up in a evangelical home (at least partly) and I actually do subscribe to the Spectator and the Weekly Standard. I listen to Rush, Hannity, et al.
Why?
Because I accuse middle America of putting its head in the collective sand.
Not being challenged on their views. Not having to defend their position. It becomes quite clear when your arguments don't hold up when you have to intelligently defend them. I find it rather amusing to find the recent trend among conservatives as echoing the very words that Rush coined many years ago: conservatives are intellectually bankrupt. If memory serves me correct he based that on the idea that liberals always spoke in terms of "I feel, etc." When you listen to the recent polls, evidently conservatives are just as lilly livered as liberals as they "felt" that George W. Bush could better protect them.
There a lot of people out there that consider themselves progressive libertarians and you should perhaps think about that. I think you should at least try to engage in dialog and discourse from a perspective of learning instead of merely trying to pound your oft-used, tired rhetoric down everyone's throat. I have seen glimpse of your independent streak at times on your blog.
It used to be that it was only liberals who bought into the party-line hook, line and sinker. Now, the tables have turned and it is the right wing with a singular and myopic viewpoint, intolerant and incapable of dissent.
There are many within the Republican party who fear that this could lead to a fundamental implosion. I don't share that thought (however good it is.)
However, if they feel disaffected, despite their objections, they will jump ship. Barry Goldwater must be turning over in his grave!

Have a good one Hal.

I do hope we could establish some guest column relationship. I would have no problem with that. I make it a point to tell people to read all sources and expose yourselves to differing views- we all may be surprised to find that there are issues we have a common ground on.

nice. but he forgot to include the blog addy, so i can't send you to him to read the original point, nor can you visit to see what someone with a differing opinion has to say.

i shant rebut the entire note, but i will say that the breadth of information i access on a daily basis is quite large. i've spent more time on the "other side" than on the right wing of the world, reading news and blogs that are diametrically opposed to my sensibilities, simply because i don't know everything (i've proven that little statement more than once). i've found some very interesting views out there, and i've even modified some of my beliefs based on information i've found. BUT: i've found more dreck and dross out there than i care to relate. most of the stuff i read comes from a frame of reference that i simply cannot accept, based on my own experiences, values, and background. i do not believe that the u.s.a is the source of all evil, nor do i think that we are the saviors from on high, either. to many of the "dark side", we, collectively are the reason the world trade centers are now a memorial, rather than a business center. as an example. that world view is so narrow and uneducated as to be laughable, if it weren't for the number of folks that believe it. a short sojourn into history will show that this has been coming for centuries, from before the u.s.a existed. we just happen to have occupied the nexus of events.
regarding other views that might be construed as "feeling" rather than information, let me say that i work my ass off, and i pay what i consider confiscatory taxes to support a system that only demands more and more. there is no overspeed governor on this engine. need more money for pet projects? raise taxes. transfer how many trillions of dollars from the haves to the have nots in the interveining years since LBJ's Great Society welfare program, and the percentages on wealthy vs. poor have not changed even one percent. but the conditions have. now the poor have cable tv, cars, cell phones. there was an article several months ago in the NYT where the reporter followed this homeless woman around. she was too poor to afford a place to sleep, but she had a cell phone? sorry. doesn't satisfy the WTF factor. that's not an isolated incident. consider philadelphia. there was a lengthy series of articles in the sf chronicle this summer holding philadelphia up as the gold standard for how to help the homeless. i may have the numbers wrong, because it was a while ago, but the gist of the article was that that city spent MILLIONS of dollars, helping less than 5000 people, total, with several million a year on the 386 (?) hardcore homeless.
as far as i'm concerned, we have entered into a societal mode that encourages behaviors that are counterproductive to the successful evolution of a society away from slavery. if you are crazy, get dropped into a hospital to get your head screwed back on. got no problems spending money on that. drugs/alcohol... rehab two or three times, then you are on your own. but that isn't happening. too many people, mainly "libs" have a vested interest in continuing these programs.
on and on. enough for now. but i will state for the record that there is one thing that i will always fall back on when arguing defense, intellegence, and national security: it is ALWAYS better to take the fight to the enemy's yard, and not your own.

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About Me

about me. well:
i am a US Navy submarine veteran.
i work at a research reactor for a california university.
i met and married my second (and last) wife after growing up.
my waist line is now 10 inches longer than my inseam. that sux, but then, i've enjoyed every calorie.
i drink my coffee black.
i am an NRA Life Member.
i am the most liberal right wing radical republican i know. new favorite quote of the day: ""We have four boxes used to guarantee our liberty: The soap box, the ballot box, the jury box and the cartridge box". -- Ambrose Bierce (1887)"